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Yellowstone National Park

Looking West Along The Madison River, Yellowstone National Park

looking west along the leading line of the Madison River as it flows between a line of trees on one side and a golden-grass meadow with lounging buffalo on the other side on an overcast autumn day in Yellowstone National Park

"The Firehole River starts south of Old Faithful, runs through the Upper Geyser Basin northward to join the Gibbon River and form the Madison River. The Madison joins the Jefferson and the Gallatin rivers at Three Forks, Montana, to form the Missouri River." There's a bridge over the river, just prior to the turnoff to the Madison Information parking area, where you can watch the flow of the Madison River as it lazily makes it's way West. Look toward your right and you might even see a herd of buffalo grazing and lounging in the tall grass. 

Rebecca Latson

A Telephoto View Of Yellowstone Lake Landscape On A Frosty Autumn Day, Yellowstone National Park

A telephoto view of snow-dusted mountains and trees across to the other side of the shoreline along Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park

"Situated at 7,733 feet (2,357 m) above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake (above 7,000 feet / 2,134 m) in North America. It is roughly 20 miles (32.2 km) long and 14 miles (22.5 km) wide, with 141 miles (227 km) of shoreline and a surface area of 132 square miles (342 km2). Yellowstone Lake freezes over completely every winter in late December or early January, with ice thicknesses varying from a few inches to more than two feet. The lake usually thaws in late May or early June.

Rebecca Latson

Grand Prismatic Spring On A Cold Autumn Morning, Midway Basin, Yellowstone National Park

An overhead view of Grand Prismatic Spring on a blue-sky autumn day, with billowing steam reaching up high at Yellowstone National Park

According to the National Park Service, "Grand Prismatic Spring, located in Midway Geyser Basin, has the distinction of being the park’s largest hot spring. It measures approximately 370 feet (112.8 m) in diameter and is over 121 feet (37 m) deep. A description of this spring by fur trapper Osborne Russell in 1839 also makes it the earliest described thermal feature in Yellowstone that is definitely identifiable."

Rebecca Latson

Happy 150th Birthday, Yellowstone!

A view of an erupting Old Faithful Geyser, surrounded by the Old Faithful building complex at Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park

You don't look a day over 100 (just kidding). "On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park for all to enjoy the unique hydrothermal and geologic features. Within Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres, visitors have unparalleled opportunities to observe wildlife in an intact ecosystem, explore geothermal areas that contain about half the world’s active geysers, and view geologic wonders like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River."

Rebecca Latson

Your National Parks RV Camping Getaway Plan

More people are leaping into the RV lifestyle every year. They’re exploring national parks in comfort, but all that extra traffic makes spontaneous road trips to the parks largely a thing of the past, at least during the busy summer season. With more rigs on the road than campsites to accommodate them, RVers like me are constantly competing for a scant number of RV-friendly campsites. I learned this lesson the hard way when I arrived at Yellowstone without reservations.

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